Film

Piku

Name: Piku
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Released: 2015
Cast: Deepika Padukone, Amitabh Bachchan, Irrfan Khan, Moushumi Chatterjee, Raghubir Yadav

Family drama

Piku is a warm, funny portrait of a woman navigating her father's hypochondria, her own romantic confusion, and the peculiar intimacy of family obligation. It's anchored by Deepika Padukone and Amitabh Bachchan's chemistry—their bickering feels lived-in and tender. A film about the small comedies and genuine tenderness of staying tangled up in the people who made you.

TMDb rating

3.6

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like slow-burn character comedies where the bickering between difficult family members is funny because it is so tender, and where a road trip becomes a quiet study of two stubborn people who cannot quite let go.

Skip it if you want a plot that moves briskly toward a clear destination, since much of the running time is given over to talk, digression and the small irritations of a long journey by car.

What it asks of you: Settle in for just over two hours of unhurried conversation, mostly confined to a cab and a few cluttered rooms, with humour that arrives in small doses rather than gags.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

The Farewell2019

Another film about adult children managing aging parents with humour and heartbreak. Lulu Wang finds the same specificity in family ritual, the same balance between comedy and ache.

But It's quieter and more restrained than Piku. Some may find the pacing contemplative rather than propulsive.

Khosla Ka Ghosla!2006

Delhi-set comedy about family chaos, property disputes, and the gap between generations. The same observational warmth, the same pleasure in characters who drive each other mad.

But Made a decade earlier, it feels looser in structure. The subplot tangles occasionally, and some gags don't quite land.

English Vinglish2012

Sridevi shines in a story about a woman reclaiming her own desires within marriage and motherhood. Gauri Shinde finds comedy and dignity in the everyday.

But The tone is gentler, almost wistful. It's less about family squabbles and more about self-discovery, which may feel slower.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Piku

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Scenes from a Marriage2021

Both are anatomies of how people who love each other can make each other miserable. Both are interested in the precise textures of long entanglement.

HBO's limited series with Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain as a couple unraveling. It has Piku's precision about intimacy and its complications, but here the marriage itself is the battleground. Five episodes of exquisite, painful acting.

But It's relentlessly bleak and sexually explicit. No humour, no reprieve. Watching it is like watching someone you love get hurt, over and over.

Jai Bhim2021

Suriya carries this film about a man fighting for justice for the wronged. It has Piku's emotional intelligence but trades comedy for righteous anger and a much larger moral weight.

But This is a serious courtroom drama with scenes of caste violence. The shift in tone and subject matter is significant—it's not a comfort watch.

Barfi!2012

Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra in a joyful, irreverent love story set in Kolkata. It has Piku's pleasure in place and the same fizzy energy between its leads.

But It's sweeter and more deliberately whimsical. Some find the magical-realism touches precious rather than charming.

Masaan2015

Richa Chadha and Vicky Kaushal in a film about family shame, desire, and moral reckoning in Varanasi. It shares Piku's emotional intelligence but goes much darker.

But This is a film about rape, grief, and sexual transgression. It's beautiful but difficult—not an evening film unless you're prepared for real pain.

Parched2015

Four women in a village find friendship and solidarity against oppression. It's as attentive to women's lives and bodies as Piku, but in a completely different register.

But It deals with widow-burning, forced marriage, and sexual violence. The beauty is real, but so is the brutality—this is not a film to drift through.

Article 152019

Ayushmann Khurrana in a sharp thriller about caste discrimination and police corruption. Smart writing and Khurrana's intensity create genuine momentum.

But The tone is more thriller than dramedy. It's preachy at moments, and the mystery element sometimes pulls against the social messaging.

Drishyam2015

Ajay Devgn in a thriller about a man protecting his family. It shares Piku's core theme—family loyalty above all—but wraps it in a murder plot and moral ambiguity.

But It's a genre exercise first. The character work takes a back seat to the mechanics of the mystery, which may feel formulaic.

C.R.A.Z.Y.2005

Both films argue that the people who exasperate us most are often the ones we're most afraid to lose. Both find profound tenderness in small rebellions.

A Quebec film about a man and his dying father, decades of unspoken things suddenly urgent. It's part family comedy, part requiem—the same tonal rope-walking as Piku, but the clock is running down. Zale Dalen makes us laugh and then devastates us.

But It's subtitled, and the opening half-hour is slow family stuff before anything crystallizes. Some will bail before the emotional payoff lands.